So this weekend I was in the City of Angels (that’s Los Angeles, California for those of you who don’t know that the City of Angels and Los Angeles are one and the same) to attend the annual Book Expo America which is the largest publishing event in the world. As my friend Chris Moore says, “every year publishers and booksellers get together in an agreed upon city to eat, drink, and discuss why the book business is going to h-e-double hockey sticks in a handbasket.”
This was my twenty fourth year in a row of attending the BEA. I really enjoy it. It’s a good chance to meet and talk with authors, learn about the gazillion new books that are being published in the coming year and of course to go to a lot of fancy parties. I also had a wonderful time signing advance readers editions of my new novel The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail, which goes on sale September 18th, in case I haven’t mentioned that.
But the real attraction of BEA is not the celebration of books or authors. It’s not the realization that as a published author you are at the center of the publishing world and bringing art and culture to the masses. No. The real purpose of BEA is of course, meeting celebrities!
And of course, since BEA was in LA this year, the celebrity quotient was dramatically increased. Here were my personal highlights:
1. Meeting and having my picture taken with Maureen McCormick. That’s right! Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!
2. Meeting Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons and getting his business card which has Homer’s face on it.
3. Meeting and getting Slash to autograph a tiny picture book. (And I can’t believe how cool he was!)
4. Meeting Kevin Nealon and realizing that he is even taller in person.
5. Having Jan Brett, yes the Jan Brett, author of about a zillion books tell me how much she liked the cover of The Youngest Templar.
6. Hanging out with my author buddies.
So there you have it. My close encounters with fame and fortune. It was quite a week and my head is still spinning.
So I’d like to know what kinds of brushes with celebrities have you had? Write back and let me know!
Peace. Out.
